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Objectives: The goal of this study was to compare levels of acyl and des-acyl ghrelin, obestatin, nesfatin-1 and leptin in healthy gravidas to hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) patients., Design and Methods: Twenty pregnant women with HG and twenty healthy pregnant women all of similar ages, BMI and all at similar pregnancy development comprised the study cohort. Fasting serum samples were obtained and measured for acyl and des-acyl ghrelin, leptin, obestatin and nesfatin-1., Results: Nesfatin-1 concentrations in the HG group were higher compared to the control group whereas; leptin concentrations during pregnancy were lower in the HG group as compared to the control group. The two groups did not differ with regard to acyl and des-acyl ghrelin and obestatin., Conclusion: This pilot study suggests a possible role of leptin and nesfatin-1, which might be involved in the pathology of the disease., (Copyright © 2013 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate ghrelin and obestatin expression in serous ovarian tumours., Materials and Methods: Preparations of deparaffinized blocks obtained from the pathology archives of a total of 47 previously diagnosed cases of benign serous tumour (n = 20), borderline serous tumour (n = 7) and malignant serous tumour (n = 20) were subjected to immunohistochemical examination to find out ghrelin and obestatin expressions., Results: Mean ghrelin expressions decreased significantly in the benign group, relative to the malignant group (p < 0.05), while there was no significant change in mean obestatin expression. It was established that rates of preparations with moderate and severe ghrelin and obestatin expression displayed a significant increase from benign to malignant ones (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: The fact that rates of preparations with severe expression correlated with an increase in malignancy suggests that ghrelin and obestatin may be effective in the malignant transformation in at least some cases.

Objectives: The present study aims to establish the levels of acylated ghrelin, desacylated ghrelin, obestatin and preptin, during pregnancy and the postpartum period in pregnant women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) and healthy pregnancy women., Design and Methods: The study registered 20 pregnant women with GDM and 20 healthy pregnant women. Fasting venous blood samples were collected from all cases between weeks 24 and 28 of pregnancy and after 24h postpartum. Hormones were analyzed using ELISA method., Results: Serum acylated ghrelin (p:0.001), desacylated ghrelin (p:0.001), obestatin (p:0.006) and preptin (p:0.001) levels were all found statistically higher in both groups during the postpartum period, when compared to the pregnancy period. A positive correlation was established between desacylated ghrelin and acylated ghrelin (p:0.008), desacylated ghrelin and preptin (p:0.012) and preptin and insulin (p:0.039) in the GDM group during pregnancy., Conclusions: The studied hormones (especially desacylated ghrelin and obestatin) are critical in GDM pathophysiology based on the comparison of measure after and before the delivery., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Endometrium carcinoma ranks fourth among female carcinomas. Therefore, early diagnosis of endometrium pre-malignant lesions is emphasised, and attempts are made to identify the risk factors. Since hyperplasias, particularly those with atypia, are held responsible for the development of the most common endometrium carcinomas, it is important to definitely distinguish between well-differentiated carcinomas and hyperplasia with atypia. In the present study, we aimed to explore whether ghrelin expression had a role in distinguishing between benign, pre-malignant and malignant lesions of endometrium., Methods: Tissue ghrelin expressions of a total of 60 cases, who were diagnosed in the Pathology Department Laboratory of Firat University Medical School, and of whom 10 were in the proliferation phase, 10 had simple hyperplasia without atypia, 10 had simple hyperplasia with atypia, 10 had complex hyperplasia without atypia, 10 had complex hyperplasia with atypia and 10 had endometrioid carcinoma cases, were examined using immunohistochemical method. Additionally, tissue samples were homogenised to analyse tissue ghrelin levels in the supernatants according to RIA method. Samples from the parotid glands were used as positive control for ghrelin. Cells that exhibited cytoplasmic staining with ghrelin antibody were evaluated as positive., Results: Immunohistochemical examination showed that ghrelin expression increased markedly in the proliferation phase, relative to hyperplasias and carcinoma. These results were parallel to ghrelin levels in tissue supernatants. Immunohistochemical and RIA analysis results indicate that ghrelin expression either markedly decreases or is entirely depleted in endometrial carcinomas., Conclusions: Therefore, we think that ghrelin expression can be useful in differentiating not only endometrium carcinomas from benign lesions but also complex hyperplasias with atypia, which pose diagnostic difficulties.

Objective: The peptide hormones ghrelin and leptin have been found in blood and breast milk. This study was undertaken to investigate whether breast milk also contains obestatin, which is derived from the same gene as ghrelin but has opposite actions, and to characterize the relations among serum and milk ghrelin, obestatin, and leptin levels in lactating mothers., Methods: Venous blood, colostrum, and mature milk were obtained from healthy lactating women (n = 31) just before suckling. The ghrelin and obestatin concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay. Leptin levels were measured by enzyme-amplified sensitivity immunoassay., Results: Obestatin levels in colostrum (538.9 pg/mL) and mature milk (528.5 pg/mL) were more than twice the corresponding blood levels (270.3 and 289.4 pg/mL, respectively). In contrast, leptin levels in colostrum (2.01 ng/mL) and mature milk (2.04 ng/mL) were more than five-fold lower than the corresponding blood levels (11.54 ng/mL). There was no correlation between breast milk ghrelin levels and leptin (r = -0.18, P > 0.05). However, there was a positive correlation between leptin levels in breast milk and blood (r = 0.369, P < 0.05)., Conclusion: The origin of milk obestatin is not currently known, but it comes from the blood or breast and may drain through the mammary glands into the milk. Ghrelin, obestatin, and leptin in the milk may directly affect appetite and their levels may be related to the regulation of energy balance and the pathogenesis of obesity.